INFORMATION UPDATE

Kenya’s prolonged dry spell resulted in severe forest fires – ravaging parts of the Aberdares and Mount Kenya ecosystems.

In the Aberdares, fires occurred mainly in the Northern moorlands. Fires also broke out in the natural glades in the north-eastern slopes of the Aberdares, spreading into the adjacent forest-bamboo vegetation. A large fire damaged the open cedar-bamboo vegetation in the Isanga Ridge, north of South Kinangop. However, the largest fire consumed 2,300 hectares of moorlands in the upper catchment area of the Malewa River.

Rhino Ark mobilized two crop dusters and two choppers to combat the fires in the Aberdares. Rhino Ark also organised reconnaissance flights above these fires to assess the location, direction and accessibility to the fire lines.

“If these fires would have been left unattended, they would have spread across the northern and central moorlands, burning an area most likely ten times larger”, commented Christian Lambrechts, Executive Director of Rhino Ark.

Similarly, many small fires have been affecting the northern slopes of Mount Kenya from Nanyuki Forest Station to Marania Forest Station. A particularly severe fire broke out in late February in the moorlands near Chogoria. This needed Rhino Ark “to mobilize considerable resources”, commented Christian Lambrechts. “Due to the dry conditions and strong winds, the fire quickly spread, forming two large fronts. We brought in five helicopters to carry fire-fighting personnel to the remote areas where the fire was raging and to tackle the blaze directly using a water bucket.”

Crop dusters also sprayed water on the fire while a fixed-wing Caravan aircraft carried out daily assessments of the strengths of the fires. Rhino Ark coordinated the air operations while up to 700 men from the Kenya Defence Fence, the Kenya Forest Service, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Mount Kenya trust, as well as the local communities, tackled the fires on the ground. The support from our private sector partners, Tropic Air, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Lewa Conservancy, Kisima Farm and Ol Donyio Farm, helped tremendously in suppressing the fires.

Rhino Ark’s air operations cost KSh 15.02 million (US$150,000). To meet these demands, Rhino Ark raised KSh 16.75 million (US$167.500) leaving a balance to prepare for the next fire season. Supporting funds were received from the MPESA Foundation, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and the Mount Kenya Trust.

Mount Kenya fence project

By the end of February, a total of 185 kilometres of the electric fence had been built, with fence construction taking place in the Kibaranyeki section in the lower part of the upper Imenti Forest Reserve. The building and signage of all gates in the Phase I section of the project have been completed. The building and signage of all gates in Phase II has now started.

The fence energizer house at Thambana, in the fertile foothills of Mount Kenya, is 85% completed. A similar project at Chogoria – a well-known route up the mountain for trekkers and climbers – is 95% completed.

Rhino Ark has received confirmation from the Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Project (UTaNRMP) that the Board of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) will contribute US$1.4 million to the building of 60 kilometres of the Mount Kenya Electric Fence. This is the second major contribution that IFAD has made to the project.

The maintenance of the Imenti Fence still remains immensely challenging. Community members regularly short-circuit the fence – and large numbers of elephants consequently move in and out of the forest. Recently 18 elephants came out of the forest through the fence section along Meru-Maua road. Poaching has surged with three elephants killed this year.

The situation needed high level handling and, at the request of Rhino Ark, the KWS Assistant Director for the Eastern Conservation Area called a meeting involving all the security arms of the Government, presided over by the Governor of Meru County Hon. Kiraitu Murungi.

As a result, greater interaction with the local community has been encouraged, patrols have increased and the Upper Imenti Forest was closed as an immediate response. Rhino Ark and the KWS also strengthened the fence section along the Maua Road by powering it with a dedicated energiser – while building a low elephant fence in front of the comprehensive electrified fence.

The meeting also decided to prepare a long-term plan to develop eco-tourism in the area.

On a further positive note, Rhino Ark – working with the Mount Kenya Conservation Forum, KFS, KWS, and the local community – has started a rehabilitation programme for degraded areas in Naro Moru Forest Station on Mount Kenya. At the end of March, Rhino Ark and its partners planted 6,500 three seedlings in the same area.

The rehabilitation of Phase I is continuing, with 30.8 kilometres of the 38 kilometres completed. The team is working on the Ark Gate – Bondeni section. As part of the rehabilitation work, Rhino Ark is building new gates to replace gates which are in poor condition. The Phase II rehabilitation is continuing with 18 kilometres of the 40 kilometres rehabilitated. The team is now working on the Mugunda-Kamiruri section.

Consolidating the wildlife corridor between Mau Eburu and Lake Naivasha

In Mau Eburu-Lake Naivasha landscape, the wildlife corridor is making good progress. Terry McGuire, the Canadian expert who designed most of the wildlife overpasses in Canada, was contracted by Rhino Ark to design a wildlife overpass across the Moi North Lake Road within the existing wildlife corridor. Terry visited the proposed overpass site and held meetings with stakeholders in the field in late February. To take full advantage of Terry’s presence in the country, Rhino Ark and KWS co-hosted a workshop in Nairobi to discuss measures, including wildlife overpasses, to mitigate the impacts of linear infrastructure on wildlife movement. Senior representatives of government agencies involved in the development of linear infrastructure and in wildlife conservation, as well as key conservation NGOs attended the workshop. The workshop provided great opportunities learn about and discuss the experiences from North America in policy development and implementation pertaining to wildlife and infrastructure, as well as in the siting, design and construction of wildlife overpasses.

“This kind of workshop provides a good platform – and opens the way for improved cross-sectoral discussions and collaboration on the critical matter of wildlife and infrastructure”, commented Christian Lambrechts.

A key pillar of Rhino Ark’s outreach work for the area is its conservation education programme – and an important workshop was held in February involving teachers from participating schools with school environment club patrons and officials from the Ministry of Education. The programme was reviewed, experiences shared and new activities planned.

Meanwhile, support for our farm training by agricultural experts is on-going. In March, Rhino Ark organised the first visit by agricultural officers from Gilgil Sub-county to Morop. The farmers were introduced to biogas and fruit farming – and given advice on general farming. To follow up, 14 farmers from Morop made their first study visit to Eburu location, and visited four farms to learn from their experiences and set up new lines of communication. By April 2019, biogas units have been installed on 16 farms within Eburu and Ndabibi locations.

South western Mau

Progress is being made to implement the bio-enterprise honey production project with intensive training of community groups in Tinet and Kiptororo locations. Ninety-two community owner groups, with a total of 552 community members, were directly involved.

“I am also pleased to say that development of the conservation education curricula for primary and secondary schools is completed”, says Christian Lambrechts. The conservation curricula are ready for the formal launch and roll out to schools. The programme will target 46 schools within the forest adjacent area. Government agencies, and teaching staff, have been involved in the process – and have also received detailed training, through weekly location-level workshops.

The roll out of the programme will be complemented by a sustainable energy initiative – the provision of energy saving stoves and domestic charcoal kilns to selected schools that are heavy users of firewood. The aim is to reduce their consumption of firewood and consider other options – such as charcoal produced from farm waste or in school woodlots.

Regarding forest rehabilitation, Rhino Ark has started the replanting of a third 10 hectares plot of degraded forest land in the Kipkoris area. A larger-scale forest rehabilitation project, with potential funding from the German Government through the International Climate Initiative, is currently being developed.

Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has approved the terms of reference (TOR) for the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study (ESIA) for the fencing of Kakamega Forest. Rhino Ark will finance the ESIA which is due to start in mid-May.

In addition to the commitments made by the County Government of Kakamega of KES 100 million (US$1,000,000) and Rhino Ark of KES 100 million (US$1,000,000) towards the fencing of Kakamega Forest, the County Government of Vihiga has committed KES 30 million (US$300,000) to the project.

Further information:

• The Rhino Ark, the charitable trust that supports conservation in Kenya, is building lasting benefits for the forest edge communities of the Aberdares, Mount Kenya and Mau Mount Eburu.
• Following the successful completion of the 400 km Aberdare fence in 2009, Rhino Ark is expanding its conservation work to protect and preserve the forests of Mount Kenya and Mau Mount Eburu, with the construction of electrified fences around these critically important conservation areas. The Mount Eburu fence has been completed.
• Rhino Ark was established in 1988 by the conservationist and engineer, the late Ken Kuhle, in response to the threat of poaching in the salient of the Aberdare National Park and to mitigate human-wildlife conflict affecting the farming communities of the area.
• The Rhino Charge in Kenya and Rhino Charge UK, two unique off-road motor competitions, take place annually to raise funds for, and awareness about, Rhino Ark. Rhino Ark’s conservation work also receives support from the Kenya Government and the private sector.
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the impacts of the Aberdare Fence Project is available at: http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/Rhino_Ark_Main_Report.pdf